Combination chair and high chair



Feb. 1 3, 1934; AG AT] 1,946,826

COMBINATION CHAIR AND HIGH CHAIR Filed June 27, 1933 &2. wa /MW lNEys.

Patented Feb. 13, 1934 COMBINATION CHAIR AND HIGH CHAIR Giovanni Agati,San Francisco, Calif.

Application June 27, 1933. Serial No. 677,926

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in a combination chair andhigh chair, the principal object of the invention being to combine withthe ordinary dining room chair a collapsible high chair which isdisposed underneath the seat of the dining room chair, and which may bedisposed in active position by lifting the seat on a hinge to restagainst the back of a chair, and by a simple upward movement of a memberof the collapsible high chair.

It is further proposed to provide a collapsible high chair in such amanner that the same is completely accommodated within the space definedby the seat box of the chair so that when collapsed it does not in anyway interfere with the regular use of the chair as a dining room chair.

The present invention is an improvement over that described and claimedin my Patent No. 1,243,913 of October 23, 1917, and contemplates theintroduction of a number of improvements and refinements in thecombination chair and high chair shown in said patent.

More particularly it is proposed in the present invention to provide animproved hinge for the seat of the chair by means of which the seat whenin normal position may be made to abut directly against the back of thechair so as to create the appearance of a fixed seat, while on the otherhand the seat may be raised into vertical position.

Another contemplated improvement is the provision of a guide means forguiding the collapsible high chair when in collapsed position during theoperation of converting the chair into an ordinary dining room chair,whereby the collapsible high chair is confined within the through mycombination chair and high chair,

the high chair being shown inactive position;

Figure 2 a similar vertical section showing the high chair in collapsedposition;

Figure 3 a fragmentary detailed View illustrating the hinge for thechair seat with the latter in horizontal position;

Figure 4 a horizontal section along line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 a perspective view of a bracket used in my device; and

Figure 6 a perspective view of another bracket used in my invention.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, I Wish tohave it understood that various changes or modifications may be madewithin the scope of the claims hereto attached 1without departing fromthe spirit of the invenion.

In its preferred form my invention comprises a chair 1 made in theconventional fashion of a dining room chair, and comprising legs 2, aseat box 3, and a back 4, the uprights of which are preferably madeintegral with the rear legs. The seat box' comprises a front member 5,two side members 6, and a rear member '7. A seat 8, which may be of anysuitable construction, is adapted to rest on the seat box and is hingedto the sides 6 in the manner indicated in Figures 1 and 3, the principalobject of this hinge structure being to allow the seat to make a closefit with the rear member '7 of the seat box, and the rear legs, wherebymy chair is given the same appearance as the ordinary dining room chair,and whereby any danger of catching the clothes of a person sitting onthe chair is prevented.

The hinge structure is shown particularly well in Figures 1 and 3 andcomprises a plate 9 secured to the inner face of each side 6 and abracket 10 secured to the under-face of the seat and having a dependingflange 11, having an upwardly extending lip 12 extending into the seatmaterial, which is suitably recessed for this purpose. A link 13connects the seat to the seat box by being pivoted to the lip 12 as at14 and to the plate 9 as at 15.

Aside from this direct link connection between the seat and the seat boxwhich allows of forward movement of the seat when the front edge of theseat is raised, I provide means for controlling the extent of theforward movement in a second link connection comprisingthe link 16pivoted to the plate 11 as at 17, and the link 18 pivoted to the plate 9as at 19, the two links 16 and 18 being interconnected by a floatingpivot 20. An arm 21 swingable on the pivot 15 is connected to the link16 asat 22. It will be noted that due to this construction when the seatis raised the arm 21 will first urge the seat forward sufliciently tomake the seat clear the rear memher '7, and the rear legs, so thattheseat may be raised into vertical position in the manner shown inFigure 1 without any marring of any of the surface of the chair, andwithout the necessity of rounding any of the corners, as for instance,in the chair shown in my patent. On the return movement the seat willalso in a similar manner return to practically horizontal position.while remaining spaced from the back of the chair, and will impinge uponthe back and make a close fit therewith during the last stage of thereturn movement.

The seat has accommodated underneath the same a collapsible high chairincluding in its principal features an auxiliary chair seat 23, arms 24connected to the seat by means of links 25, and braces 26 adapted tolock the seat in active position. The auxiliary seat 23 is hinged to themain seat substantially midway of the length thereof by means ofbrackets 27, one of which is shown in detail in Figure 5, the bracketincluding a vertical flange 28 fastened to the main seat, a horizontalflange 29 fastened tothe edge of the auxiliary seat by means of thepivot 30, and a small lip 31 extending horizontally from the verticalflange so, as to form a rest or stop for the rear of the'auxiliary seatwhen the latter is raised into the horizontal position shown'in Figurel. The pivot is disposed at a distance from the main seat so that whenthe auxiliary seat is collapsed, its front edge .32 .will swing into aposition close to the rear edge of the main seat and the auxiliary seatwill occupy the slanting position indicated in Figure 2.

The auxiliary seat is raised into active position by means of the arms24 which are pivoted to the main seat by means of brackets 33, the armsbeing spaced sufliciently far to straddle the auxiliary seat 23 whencollapsed. The brackets .33, one of which is illustrated in detail inFigure 6, comprise two flanges 34 held in parallelrelation by a web 35so as to straddle the arm 24, the two flanges 33 having lips 36projecting outwardly for fastening the brackets to the underface of thechair seat.

The arms 24 are connected to the auxiliary seat 23 by means of links 25,secured to the arms by means of links 3'7, and to the sides of theauxiliary seat by means of pivots 38, the links 25 being arranged in thevertical plane of the .arms 24 and being made to straddle the auxiliaryseat.

The front ends of the arms are interconnected by means of a conventionaltray 39 hinged as shown at 40 for swinging movement from an activeposition ontop of the arms to an inactive position in front of the arms.When in active position the tray may be locked to the arms by means ofthe spring latch 41 including a keeper 42 and a spring operated latchmember 43 automatically engaging with the keeper when the tray assumesits active position.

The auxiliary seat 23 is automaticallyheld in its raised or activeposition by means of braces 26, formed with slots 44 adapted to ride onrivets movement from vertical position on top of the front member 5, tovertical position adjacent the front member 5., Normally this foot restwill assume the latter position, but when the front seat is raised,while the high chair is still in collapsed position, the foot rest50,may be raised to vertical position on top of the front member 5, andthen after the high chair has been positioned, the foot rest 50 may bedropped and its rear edges will come to rest on small clips 52projecting from the braces 26.

When the high chair is collapsed with the main seat still in verticalposition the auxiliary seat and. the arms and the tray will naturallyfall by their own weight into substantially parallel relation to themain seat, but when the main seat itself is then dropped, the high chairelements have a tendency to drop away from the main seat, the tray 39being the part that has a tendency to drop away to the most advancedposition. It is apparent that if no means were provided for holding thecollapsed high chair close to the main seat the arms 24 and the seat 23would naturally fall into vertical position with the main seat inhorizontal position. To insure accommodation of the collapsed high chairwithin the box 3 of the main seat, I provide a guide 53 which extendsfrom the front member 5 to the rear member '7 of the box, and upon whichthe front edge of the tray 39 rides during the collapsing operation forholding the collapsedhigh chair close to the main seat. The front edgeof the tray 39 is preferably provided with a small metallic reinforcingelement 54 adapted to ride on the guide 53.

In operation when the chair is in a normal position with the main seatresting on the seat box, it does not distinguish from any other diningroom chair, and there is nothing to indicate that it has any combinationfeature associated therewith. If the chair is to be used as a highchair, it is only necessary for the operator to raise the main seat byits front edge into vertical position, to turn the foot rest 50 upward,to raise the front edge of the tray 39, which will secure thecollapsible chair automatically in the position shown in Figure 1,whereupon the foot rest 50 may be made to rest on the clips 52. Forcollapsing the chair the foot rest 50 is'lifted, the braces 26 are freedof their engagement with the rivets which causes the collapsible chairto drop into a position approximately adjacent the main seat, whereuponthe main seat may be lowered, which would cause the front edge of thetray 39 to ride on the guide 53 and bring all the parts into theposition shown in Figure 2, the foot rest automatically drop ping intosuspended position during the operation.

I claim: v

1. In combination, a chair comprising a seat box, legs supporting thesame, a back, a seat and means for hinging the seat to the seat boxarranged to effect a slight forward movement of the seat when the latteris raised, the latter means comprising a single link having pivotedconnection with the seat and the box respectively, a pair of linkshaving pivotal connections-with the seat and the box respectively andhaving a floating, pivot between the same and an arm pivoted coaxiallywith one of the single link pivots and pivotally engaging that one ofthe pair of links which is pivoted to the seat for swinging the seatengaging end of the latter link and the seat forward when the seat israised.

2. In combination, a chair. comprising a seat box, legs supporting thesame, a back, a seat pivoted tothe seat box and adapted to be swung intovertical position to rest against the back, a collapsible high chairpivotedto the underside of the seat so as to be freely suspendedtherefrom in vertical position when the high chair is collapsed with theseat in vertical position and having a tray supported in front thereofand a guide rail supported by the seat box and extending from front torear for guiding the tray and the collapsed high chair intosubstantially horizontal position when the seat is dropped intohorizontal position. i

' GIOVANNI AGATI.

